Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties I present the committee’s report, incorporating a dissenting report, entitled Report 81: Treaties tabled on 8 August 2006 (2).

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

by leave—I am pleased to table report 81 of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties on the Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the Transfer of Nuclear Material, done at Canberra on 3 April 2006, and the Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the People’s Republic of China for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, also done at Canberra on 3 April 2006.

Australia presently has 19 bilateral safeguards agreements which cover the transfer of Australian uranium to 36 countries and Taiwan. We have exported uranium to countries with whom we have a bilateral safeguards agreement since 1979.

These agreements will provide for the transfer of Australian uranium to China.

The committee conducted this inquiry over four months and received 34 submissions. We held public hearings in Canberra, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne. The committee also visited the Beverley uranium mine in South Australia.

We received a range of views from the uranium industry, environmental organisations, anti-nuclear organisations and private individuals.

There are several levels of oversight in addition to these treaties. China joined the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in 1992 and is a member of the IAEA. China has signed and ratified the additional protocol of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2002.

These bilateral safeguard agreements provide an additional layer of oversight. They provide a treaty level agreement which proscribes the use of Australian uranium for any military purpose.

The treaties will be implemented operationally through the administrative arrangements which will be concluded between Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office and the China Atomic Energy Agency.

Both government and opposition members of the committee have concluded that the sale of uranium to China, protected by these safeguards, is in the national interest. I should point out that there is a dissenting report from the Australian Democrats senator, Senator Andrew Bartlett.

In addition the committee have made a number of further recommendations to support Australia’s strong position in global non-proliferation efforts.

The International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards budget is only $US120 million. The IAEA Director General, Dr Mohamed ElBaradei, has stated that the IAEA are operating on a ‘shoestring budget’. The committee has recommended that Australia review the International Atomic Energy Agency funding requirements and that Australia increase its voluntary contributions to that body.

The committee has also recommended that Australia pushes within the IAEA for conversion facilities in the five declared nuclear weapons states under the NPT to be subject to safeguards.

The committee has further recommended that the resources for the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office be increased to ensure safeguards are applied effectively.

The committee also received some evidence relating to thorium reactors, which were said to be proliferation-proof. Thorium is currently a by-product of mineral sands, which Western Australia is rich in. The committee has recommended that the Australian government fund R&D in the area of thorium energy generation to compare its waste and energy production with conventional reactors.

Australia has 36 per cent of the world’s uranium reserves, which are recoverable at less than $40 per kilogram. Some expect China’s nuclear power generation capacity to increase eightfold over the next 25 years. Estimates available to the committee suggest that, at a current price of $100 per kilogram, with Australia selling an estimated 2,500 tonnes of uranium to China, this would earn Australia $250 million a year.

Another consideration is that nuclear power does not produce greenhouse gas emissions. Seventy-five per cent of  China’s energy needs are currently met from coal and natural gas, with the remaining quarter predominantly from hydropower. China is seeking to diversify away from coal into natural gas, hydropower and nuclear power. As Peter Morris, from the Minerals Council of Australia, said before the committee:

Every 22 tonnes of uranium used saves the emission of ... one million tons of CO relative to coal fired generators.

The committee has concluded it would be in Australia’s national interest for these two treaties to enter into force. It is possible that Australian uranium could be exported to China by 2007, but most contracts in this area are three to five years in advance.

I would like to thank all those who made submissions and appeared before the committee. I would like to thank the secretariat: committee secretary, James Rees, inquiry secretary, Stephanie Mikac, Serica Mackay and Heidi Luschtinetz for all their help in ensuring the inquiry ran smoothly.

Mr Speaker, I commend report 81 of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties to the House.

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